Valmont
Valmont is one of the primary antagonists in the Jackie Chan Adventure series, featuring prominently in the first and second seasons. He is the founder of the Dark Hand and one of Jackie Chan's most competent long-standing opponents. While a well-connected and well-resourced figure at the start of the series, his associations with dark forces have driven him to bankruptcy and turned him into a petty thief who conspires only to get by. Appearance Valmont is a tall man who is typically seen wearing a green suit over a black shirt and yellow tie. He has blue eyes, a tan skin tone, and shoulder-length white hair (which he keeps tied back in a pony tail.) He also has a small gold earing. In his appearance in Season 4, his suit was heavily wrinkled and sligtly torn, his hair was uncombed, and he also sported a five-o-clock shadow. Personality Valmont is generally intelligent and level-headed. He is arrogant and driven by greed (as shown by his desire to attain Shendu's lost treasure). Valmont operates out of self-interest, almost always being only concerned about his own well-being (as shown by the way he treated the Chan clan after being possessed by Shendu.) He does not hesitate to stoop to dishonorable means to incapacitate an opponent, and will betray his followers or allies if a better opportunity presents itself. (Such as when he used the Dragon Talisman for himself instead of handing it to Shendu.) Plot Background Valmont was born in the United Kingdom. In the past, a younger Valmont was contacted by men who would eventually become his Enforcers. In a skirmish, Valmont was about to shatter the orb that could enable time travel, but accidentally activated it, sending Jade and Jackie to the present while the Enforcers had to go back the long way. Younger Jackie made Valmont faint with a near blow to the face. Jackie then continued his journey while Valmont lay flat on the ground. Season 1 Valmont first joins with Shendu to acquire all the Talismans in exchange for lost treasure of Ching Xi Hung. Valmont used a great deal of his organization's resources to retrieve the Talismans all over the world which drained quite a bit of The Dark Hand's finances, though Shendu assured him his treasure would make up for all of his lost assets 10,000 times over specifically. However, Shendu double-crossed him as Valmont did not give Shendu his talismans in the end, Jackie Chan brought him his Talismans (the power of the tiger talisman had separated Jackie into pure good and Evil versions of himself, Valmont convinced the latter to get the Talismans). Valmont and his men were then apprehended by Section 13. To escape, Valmont activated a tracer in his cane to get out and traveled to Hong Kong, to obtain the treasure in Shendu's palace. However, when Shendu was destroyed, the treasure and the palace crumbled to dust. But they got a bigger prize in the form of the Talismans. Season 2 With Shendu out of the way, Valmont used his newly-acquired Talismens for financial gain by equipping the enforcers with their power and making them use it to rob banks. However, Valmont shortly became the involuntary host to Shendu's spirit, tasked with freeing the Demon Sorcerers. Neither Shendu nor Valmont was happy with their situation and Valmont was forced to wear a traditional Chinese robe for most of the portal hunt. Unlike the previous season, Valmont was no longer stationed within his skyscraper and he and his enforcers had to operate within the Helms Fish Cannery. Despite the Dark Hand's efforts, every demon they released was subsequently banished by the Chans, resulting in Bai Tza refusing Shendu's plea to separate him from Valmont's body. Shendu then decided to graft Valmont's body into a new dragon body, turning his skin green and putting a horn on his forehead. When he was about to apply gills to survive San Francisco getting sunk to the bottom of the ocean, Valmont had enough and tried touching the Pan'ku Box to exorcise Shendu only to render him unconscious (although this did return Valmont to his original form). He went to the Chans for help, even providing the location of his hideout but they gave no mind about this and only agreed to help when he provided the whereabouts of Bai Tza. (The location of his hideout was later proven useful anyway.) Uncle painted a symbol on his head to still Shendu until he could be properly exorcised. However, the sign was washed away and Shendu woke up. Valmont eventually was finally freed of Shendu when he was banished to the Netherworld when they attempted to open the final portal. He later bought a fake talisman to make up for the loss. (When Shendu rewrote the Book of Ages to put Earth under rule of the demons, he made the Dark Hand his court jesters, but when the Chans and the J-Team restarted history, Valmont and his men were put right again.) Following this, Jackie and the Dark Hand vied to obtain the Cat of Khartoum statue. In the end, Valmont got it, planning to sell it to a shady character named Cardiff Zendo but got scratched by the statue's claws, which changed him into a cat-like creature with the habits of abilities of a feline. Valmont planned to use these abilities to further his crimes planning to create a army of cat human hybrids like himself, but the cat-like instincts he developed in his transformation confounded this aim. In the end, Jackie realized the statue was too dangerous for a museum and destroyed it, reverting Valmont (and Jade, who had also gotten scratched and transformed) back to human form when they were exposed to the antidote inside the statue. Season 3 The Dark Hand had lost most of its assets thanks to Shendu and his hunt for the Demon portals. Valmont had his Enforcers raid Section 13 for the Talismans to continue their crimes, now promising to treat them as partners rather than minions. However, the Talismens were destroyed by Chan in an encounter with the Enforcers and Daolon Wong who then transformed his them into his new Dark Warriors, forcing Valmont to go solo. During a robbery that brought him to a dumpster, he runs into Wong, spilling his supplies for the horse talisman location spell. Valmont demands his men back, threatening him with his bigger size. Wong then simply turned Valmont into a child. With no choices left, Valmont goes to the Chans only to learn that they were looking for the Horse Talisman power in England. He sneaks aboard their plane and when discovered, demands he'd be turned back to normal. When refused, he messes around in the hotel room before running off to find the horse. He disguises himself as a jockey and takes the horse, only to find that it only healed his paper cut. When they return to America, Uncle turns him back into an adult, but once he steps off the plane, he is arrested by Section 13 agents. As part of a plan to become rich again, Valmont gave Tohru an amnesia potion so he wouldn't remember he no longer works for the Dark Hand. He then goes to Sri Lanka to steal a golden elephant-shaped statue, but the Chans stop him and make Tohru realize who his friends are. In the end, Valmont gets a dose of his own medicine and is compelled by Jade to dance a Swan Lake ballet. Season 4 Eventually, Valmont got out of jail. With his fortune and criminal empire in ruins, he manages to live a low life in a cubicle one-room apartment, living on stolen money. He caught wind of the Chans' quest for the Oni Masks and managed to purchase one online. His username was "Filthyrich1", even though, according to Jade, he wasn't "rich, just filthy". He intended to wear it to use a Shadowkhan army to regain his lost riches through bank-robbing. But the mask was split in half, and Valmont got the left. Thusly, Valmont's Shadowkhan were only half and the masks still had its personality and only desired destruction, not riches (much to Valmont's dismay). Later, however, he rips it off using a mask removal potion with Jade's help as he can't control it. He tosses it aside for a box of diamonds but gets inadvertently caught in a delivery postage machine, wrapped up and shipped to Mexico instead. Season 5 Valmont's final appearances were brief non-speaking appearances, including applying for a job as Drago's henchman, though he was immediately turned down. In The Powers That Be (Part 2), he is last seen as the driver of a bus the J-Team helps rescue from falling off a bridge. Jackie recognizes him saying his name briefly before Valmont tries to hide his face and runs off. Powers and Abilities Arguably, Valmont's greatest skill is his intelligence. He is a skillful criminal strategist and has been labeled by others as a "crime genius." (He was even shown to be a master of instigation as a child.) He also appears to have some engineering knowledge, as he constructed a fake Snake Talisman which injected Jackie with poison at one point. He is also a martial arts fighter who is able to hold his own against (and even get the better of) Jackie in their personal confrontations. Even as a child, Valmont was still capable of swiftly dispatching a jockey using his fighting skills to steal his clothing. As the leader of an international crime syndicate, Valmont also possesses considerable amounts of resources which he uses to aid in accomplishing his goals, although these funds were nearly completely depleted when he was under the control of Shendu. Appearances Season 1 *''The Dark Hand'' *''The Power Within'' *''Enter the Viper'' *''Shell Game'' *''Project A, for Astral'' *''Bullies'' *''Tough Break'' *''The Rock'' *''The Dog and Piggy Show'' *''The Tiger and the Pussycat'' *''Day of the Dragon'' Season 2 *''Through the Rabbit Hole'' *''The Warrior Incarnate'' *''The Stronger Evil'' *''The J-Team'' *''Jade Times Jade'' *''Rumble in the Big House'' *''And He Does His Own Stunts'' *''Showdown in the Old West'' *''Queen of the Shadowkhan'' *''Shanghai Moon'' *''Armor of the Gods'' *''Tale of the Demon Tail'' *''The New Atlantis'' *''The Eighth Door'' *''Demon World (Part 1)'' *''Enter the Cat'' Season 3 *''The Powers Unleashed'' *''Little Valmont, Big Jade'' *''Tohru Who?'' Season 4 *''Half a Mask of Kung-Fu'' Season 5 *''Black and White and Chi All Over'' *''The Powers That Be (Part 2)'' Quotes * "You're telling me 'one man' stopped you? Three of my enforcers, armed with high-tech weapons were defeated by an archaeologist?" The Dark Hand * "Jackie Chan, a thief? Oh, perhaps there's hope for him after all." Enter the Viper * "Shendu! Back so soon? What, no Talismans?" Project A, for Astral * "My men are on it, Shendu." Bullies * "The arrogance of that oversized lawn ornament!" Bullies * "You really go for the gold, Mr. Chan. Fool's gold." Bullies * "No, Shendu will still require the other Talismans, and our continued assistance for that." Tough Break * "A rather appropriate lure since the venom now rushing through your veins will soon turn you to stone." The Rock * "It would seem we have lost the lost treasure of Ching Xi Hung. On the bright side, however, Jackie Chan has done me a tremendous favour by eliminating my albatross. Which means we now have exclusive access to... some very potent magic." The Stronger Evil * "As the head of an international crime syndicate... I refuse to expose myself by robbing a common bank!" Rumble in the Big House * "I rendered him unconscious. Now please you must help. I want him exorcised!" The New Atlantis * "Just because I'm possessed by a demon doesn't mean I can read their minds." The New Atlantis * "So this is why your niece is always with you? And here I just thought you were horribly irresponsible." (mocking Jackie) The New Atlantis * ''"I don't care if it leads back to the Big Bang, you buffoons! Just bring back that talisman!" Through the Rabbit Hole * "Now see here. Just because I look like a child, doesn't mean you can treat me like one!" Little Valmont, Big Jade * "Unhand me you buffons!" Little Valmont, Big Jade * "You are Tohru. My most loyal henchman." Tohru Who? * "I may be broke, but I still have my resources, and I've caught wind of your little 'quest'. Once I have MY Oni Mask in hand, I shall control an army of Shadowkhan thieves and the riches of the world will be mine!" Half a Mask of Kung-Fu * "I will do what I please with the mask that I purchased fair and square with stolen money!" Half a Mask of Kung-Fu * "Yes, my Shadowkhan. Destroy them and... seize the rest of my face." Half a Mask of Kung-Fu Trivia *He is the only main antagonist who does not possess magic or supernatural powers. *He is one of the two main antagonists (the other being Shendu) to appear in all five seasons. However, he did not have a major role in Season 5. Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Humans Category:British Characters Category:Villains Category:Reformed Villains Category:Dark Hand Category:Oni Wearers